A day for an activity which was just what I came to the highlands for... some jungle hiking! We joined a jungle tour to go deep into the green wilderness to look at Rafflesia flower - the largest breed in the world!Going in a 4x4 vehicle (one of the small number of valid uses of such a vehicle in my opinion), it was the deepest into the wilderness I had been since I started my sabbatical. The jeep slid, bounced and struggled its way up the jungle trail - I have videos of the passengers being throw from side to side like the crew of an attacked Enterprise in an old episode of Star Trek.
After the guides adorned us with silly hats, it was time for the hike up to see the flowers. It was deep jungle with mud, rocks and tree roots. The guides had their machettis out ready to make clearings. We also had some fun bamboo bridges and tree trunk bridges to cross. Again, I think that health and safety was not a top consideration!
The wildlife on offer was most intriguing. See for yourself, the pictures speak for themselves.
The crowning glory was to look at the Rafflesia flower... it takes months to flower and then dies in about 3 to 5 days (7 at the most). It is in fact a flowering fungus that is also a parasite - it lives off the water inside vines.
After this, we had a chance to drink water from the inside of a freshly cut bamboo branch, try a blow-pipe hunting implement used by the indigenous people (I now have a shorter version for fun and games at home!), and to try a the inside of a stinky Durian fruit. The photos of me are before and after the Durian!
For supper, I tried Nasi Goreng Pattaya, essentially some chicken and vegetable fried rice covered with a fried egg.
